[ARCHIVED THREAD] - White Privilege (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/8/2014 2:13:20 PM EDT
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I was born to a family of farmers from a rural area comprised of Amish country
and was brought up in city surroundings as my father got a good paying job in a factory making tools for machine work. At about the ripe old age of 10 years he bought me a self propelled lawn mower used from a golf course. He then went out and told the neighbors that I would mow their yard for a dollar a yard. About the same year he took me, along with a spadefork behind the garage to spade up a garden plot that was grass and single car and garage width out to the alley. I was was taught in string lining rows, hoeing, planting, weeding and watering. That first year my mom and dad couldn't figure out why there were no sweet peas. Yes, I had already figured out that sweet peas tasted better when they were young and right off the vine. Among other things before I went in the Army, there were paper routes, detasseling, corn shelling, sacking groceries and painting houses. Is there anywhere in the book of life that said I was privileged? I was merely shown the way of life as my parents knew it. It helped me with some skills and work related knowledge to get through life as we know it. Their was also that great watermelon and cantaloupe garden in the sandy soil that was under a grape trellis. So a life is passing that was taught from love and work. Did I hear a faint echo about white privilege where life is a piece of cake and ice cream being served on a silver platter? Do some folks understand what it takes to do life's work or to make a marriage work? Maybe those with little endive think they have it coming to them for free but what does it really take for your world to go around? What is success in your mind? And I have never felt privileged. |
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Quoted:
I was born to a family of farmers from a rural area comprised of Amish country and was brought up in city surroundings as my father got a good paying job in a factory making tools for machine work. At about the ripe old age of 10 years he bought me a self propelled lawn mower used from a golf course. He then went out and told the neighbors that I would mow their yard for a dollar a yard. About the same year he took me, along with a spadefork behind the garage to spade up a garden plot that was grass and single car and garage width out to the alley. I was was taught in string lining rows, hoeing, planting, weeding and watering. That first year my mom and dad couldn't figure out why there were no sweet peas. Yes, I had already figured out that sweet peas tasted better when they were young and right off the vine. Among other things before I went in the Army, there were paper routes, detasseling, corn shelling, sacking groceries and painting houses. Is there anywhere in the book of life that said I was privileged? I was merely shown the way of life as my parents knew it. It helped me with some skills and work related knowledge to get through life as we know it. Their was also that great watermelon and cantaloupe garden in the sandy soil that was under a grape trellis. So a life is passing that was taught from love and work. Did I hear a faint echo about white privilege where life is a piece of cake and ice cream being served on a silver platter? Do some folks understand what it takes to do life's work or to make a marriage work? Maybe those with little endive think they have it coming to them for free but what does it really take for your world to go around? What is success in your mind? And I have never felt privileged. A kid with work ethic would have pushed. |
The greatest privelege of being white... is that there's no racial epithets to use against me that would actually have an effect on my feelings. 
Cracker? Honkey? lol I agree with Louis C. K. "Damn. Man called me a cracker... that just takes me back to owning land and people. Shucks." 
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| My start was much like the OP's from about 9 on I cut lawns in a suburb west of Chicago, I shoveled snow for pay in the winter, at 15 my dad ( who had a steel setting outfit) put me in the field as a laborer, I was doing a man's work 8 - 10 hours a day every day during the summer until I graduated from college. I took out a loan for graduate school, in the mid 70's , got married in the mid eighties while working as a Journeyman Ironworker. Got my knees messed up dropped out of construction got my teacher's cert and eventually another masters in education. At no time did anyone give me anything, I have paid cash for everything except my first masters and my house. I have never felt privileged. I remember feeling tired a lot. |
The whole privilege thing seems to me to be a case of "You're better than me and I don't like it" so I'm going to stand in the corner and talk shit instead of bettering myself. I'd ignore it, fortunately its not something I'm going to hear in my neck of the woods.
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I grew up as a poor white kid in a Black neighborhood, Dad caught fish to keep us fed. Mom was a schoolteacher she got the bills paid. Whooped my ass if I didn't do my homework. we all worked hard. People who accuse you of having your life handed to you are really just excusing their own underachievement. So don't take it personally. |
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Quoted: How old are you and where did you dad get his job to provide for you ? I would bet a black man at the same time and place would of been paid less, or looked over entirely for the same job iBT88 You should have put that post in a spoiler. Pretty sure you just gave away the OP's acct ending. |
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How old are you and where did you dad get his job to provide for you ? I would bet a black man at the same time and place would of been paid less, or looked over entirely for the same job iBT88 If you're asking me I was 15 when I started working construction, my dad had a habit of hiring blacks, Indians, Mexicans, whites, didn't matter, if the guy was a hard worker he worked them. The only color he recognized was the green of the money he paid them and his company made. He started the company himself, he built it himself, despite what Zero was saying a year or two ago. Oh, the guy that my dad turned me over to , to teach me the ropes, was a black man who had just gotten into the union under the union relaxing it's membership requirements. |
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OP,
You sure do seem to like to stir up race issues, a lot. It's 2014, let's move on. I'll go out on a limb, here - and not a very long one - to say that you are a racist. I can tell this by how pissed off you always seem to be about race. That, and the fact that you're so intent upon waving a confederate flag. South lost the war, face it. Yeah, some of my ancestors were on that side too. But that's sure as hell not something I'm proud of. Anyhow, we don't come to these sorts of forums to be enlightened one-another on such topics. So, go back in your bubble thinking the world is plotting against white America, and I'll go back in mine pretending like people like you no longer exist. |
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I was born to a family of farmers from a rural area comprised of Amish country and was brought up in city surroundings as my father got a good paying job in a factory making tools for machine work. At about the ripe old age of 10 years he bought me a self propelled lawn mower used from a golf course. He then went out and told the neighbors that I would mow their yard for a dollar a yard. About the same year he took me, along with a spadefork behind the garage to spade up a garden plot that was grass and single car and garage width out to the alley. I was was taught in string lining rows, hoeing, planting, weeding and watering. That first year my mom and dad couldn't figure out why there were no sweet peas. Yes, I had already figured out that sweet peas tasted better when they were young and right off the vine. Among other things before I went in the Army, there were paper routes, detasseling, corn shelling, sacking groceries and painting houses. Is there anywhere in the book of life that said I was privileged? I was merely shown the way of life as my parents knew it. It helped me with some skills and work related knowledge to get through life as we know it. Their was also that great watermelon and cantaloupe garden in the sandy soil that was under a grape trellis. So a life is passing that was taught from love and work. Did I hear a faint echo about white privilege where life is a piece of cake and ice cream being served on a silver platter? Do some folks understand what it takes to do life's work or to make a marriage work? Maybe those with little endive think they have it coming to them for free but what does it really take for your world to go around? What is success in your mind? And I have never felt privileged. To be fair, the underlined plays a big part in your life that many non-white kids don't get to experience. The fault lies squarely with the government supporting this sort of environment by stepping in & playing "daddy" with welfare, WIC, food stamps, section 8, medicaid, etc... On the bright side, the government is seeing to it that more and more "whites" do not get to experience the "white privilege" of having two parents. |
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A kid with work ethic would have pushed. Quoted:
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I was born to a family of farmers from a rural area comprised of Amish country and was brought up in city surroundings as my father got a good paying job in a factory making tools for machine work. At about the ripe old age of 10 years he bought me a self propelled lawn mower used from a golf course. He then went out and told the neighbors that I would mow their yard for a dollar a yard. About the same year he took me, along with a spadefork behind the garage to spade up a garden plot that was grass and single car and garage width out to the alley. I was was taught in string lining rows, hoeing, planting, weeding and watering. That first year my mom and dad couldn't figure out why there were no sweet peas. Yes, I had already figured out that sweet peas tasted better when they were young and right off the vine. Among other things before I went in the Army, there were paper routes, detasseling, corn shelling, sacking groceries and painting houses. Is there anywhere in the book of life that said I was privileged? I was merely shown the way of life as my parents knew it. It helped me with some skills and work related knowledge to get through life as we know it. Their was also that great watermelon and cantaloupe garden in the sandy soil that was under a grape trellis. So a life is passing that was taught from love and work. Did I hear a faint echo about white privilege where life is a piece of cake and ice cream being served on a silver platter? Do some folks understand what it takes to do life's work or to make a marriage work? Maybe those with little endive think they have it coming to them for free but what does it really take for your world to go around? What is success in your mind? And I have never felt privileged. A kid with work ethic would have pushed. 
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How old are you and where did you dad get his job to provide for you ? I would bet a black man at the same time and place would of been paid less, or looked over entirely for the same job iBT88 Shhhh.... you're hurting their illusions of a meritocracy. If people can't accept that their position affords them privileges, they should at least admit that it's not a hindrance (which is more than can be said for minorities). >cue Affirmative Action response >Great, I'm against it too. I would still rather be white and not have affirmative action than be black and have it ..... and I suspect most people here would say the same. |
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OP, You sure do seem to like to stir up race issues, a lot. It's 2014, let's move on. I'll go out on a limb, here - and not a very long one - to say that you are a racist. I can tell this by how pissed off you always seem to be about race. That, and the fact that you're so intent upon waving a confederate flag. South lost the war, face it. Yeah, some of my ancestors were on that side too. But that's sure as hell not something I'm proud of. Anyhow, we don't come to these sorts of forums to be enlightened one-another on such topics. So, go back in your bubble thinking the world is plotting against white America, and I'll go back in mine pretending like people like you no longer exist. Oooooohhh, you called him a racist. I bet that will make him cringe in self loathing. Can you call me one, too? Please? Newsflash. No one gives a fuck what you think, either, self righteous bubbleboy. |
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It's just no fair. I am unable to tap into my white privilege in my field, because I sell things online, and no one knows I'm white. If only they knew my sales would certainly skyrocket.
But I always take advantage of the 10% white privilege discount at the local supermarket. |
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Shhhh.... you're hurting their illusions of a meritocracy. If people can't accept that their position affords them privileges, they should at least admit that it's not a hindrance (which is more than can be said for minorities). >cue Affirmative Action response >Great, I'm against it too. I would still rather be white and not have affirmative action than be black and have it ..... and I suspect most people here would say the same. Quoted:
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How old are you and where did you dad get his job to provide for you ? I would bet a black man at the same time and place would of been paid less, or looked over entirely for the same job iBT88 Shhhh.... you're hurting their illusions of a meritocracy. If people can't accept that their position affords them privileges, they should at least admit that it's not a hindrance (which is more than can be said for minorities). >cue Affirmative Action response >Great, I'm against it too. I would still rather be white and not have affirmative action than be black and have it ..... and I suspect most people here would say the same. I can think of no greater handicap than a self-defeating mindset. The greatest obstacle we all face in life is ourselves. Our own doubts and fears. Which is precisely what the government cultivates. Has to, to justify it's own existence. If people realized they didn't need the government so much, there'd be far less of it. |
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I can think of no greater handicap than a self-defeating mindset. The greatest obstacle we all face in life is ourselves. Our own doubts and fears. Which is precisely what the government cultivates. Has to, to justify it's own existence. If people realized they didn't need the government so much, there'd be far less of it. and we'd all be better off. |
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I can think of no greater handicap than a self-defeating mindset. The greatest obstacle we all face in life is ourselves. Our own doubts and fears. Which is precisely what the government cultivates. Has to, to justify it's own existence. If people realized they didn't need the government so much, there'd be far less of it. and we'd all be better off. I agree. Good luck getting a 3rd generation welfare recipient to, tho. They simply cannot conceive of any other way of life. Their mindset is literally no different than that of a slave who fears to run because he doesn't know how he'll live as a free man. The last couple of generations who get left holding the bag when the system collapses on itself are going to be well and truly fucked. It'll be sink or swim and a large portion will sink. |
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The first person that tries to lay that crap on me in person...no matter what color they are, white, black, pink, bue or yellow is going to get told "Damned right. Now get back to the fields and get to work. That damned cotton isn't going to pick itself."
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One dollar per yard???!!!! WTF???!!!! At least my Dad gave me permission to charge $10-20 a cut.... And I took advantage of that... Houses in my hood were "builders half acres" and I did it without the self propelled lawn mower BS.... Fast forward to college... I did landscaping for a couple of years... Swinging picks with the Mexican laborers for a couple of years.. Some of the hardest working SOBs I've ever seen... Not a popular stance, but I would hire them if it was my business doing that, because they are some of the hardest working fuckers I've ever seen... I finally got a job bar tending for the last couple of years of college, and it finished off paying for my schooling...
Now, I pay others to do that bullshit. Not that I couldn't do it, but I've got better shit to do with my time.... 
"White privilege"? I don't think so.... At least not for me... |